La religione civile di Ernesto de Martino

Between 1934 and 1936, Ernesto de Martino wrote, in two versions, a text, which is still unpublished: Essay on Civil Religion. In this work De Martino identified Fascism as the best model to overcome Christian religion, and more generally any existing religious system. In 1997, Eugenio Maria Capocasale published this material in his doctoral thesis; however, this dissertation remains unpublished. The present paper aims at providing ample excerpts from the Essay on Civil Religion, in order to place it within the overall De Martino’s scientific production. The main aim is to show how this essay, far from being the result of a fleeting adherence of the author to Fascism, represents an important stage in his process of defining religion and its value in contemporary society. From the 1930s onwards, De Martino’s idea of religion (although no longer fascist) remained the same.